1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus and a process for recycling used absorbent sanitary products.
By the term “absorbent sanitary products” is meant in general disposable absorbent products, such as: baby diapers, incontinence absorbent pads, ladies sanitary pads, bed mats, etc.
2. Description of the Related Art
Absorbent sanitary products are generally made up of a wide range of different materials, amongst which sheets of plastic material, cellulose fluff, superabsorbent polymers, sheets of non-woven fabric, etc.
Absorbent sanitary products contain high-quality materials such as plastic and cellulose, and it would be desirable to recover said materials to use them in a new production cycle or else for the production of energy.
Currently, used absorbent sanitary products are disposed of as undifferentiated waste to be sent to rubbish dumps. The component materials of used absorbent sanitary products are not recovered in the first place because the various materials (cellulose fibres, superabsorbent polymers, sheets of plastic material, etc.) are intimately interconnected, and to obtain separation of the materials it would be necessary to carry out a complete destructuring of the products. In addition, used absorbent sanitary products contain organic excretions and bacteria, and it would be necessary to carry out a sterilization of the products prior to recycling of the materials.
For the above reasons, used absorbent sanitary products are not included amongst recyclable waste products for which differentiated collection is carried out.
It is estimated that absorbent sanitary products constitute approximately 2-3% of the total of urban solid waste. However, where a differentiated collection is carried out with a high percentage of differentiation of the waste (with a percentage of differentiated waste higher than 60% of the total) the percentage of absorbent sanitary products with respect to the remaining part constituted by the undifferentiated residual fraction rises to approximately 20%.
The high percentage of absorbent sanitary products with respect to the residual fraction of non-recyclable waste renders highly desirable the availability of equipment and processes that enable a treatment of absorbent sanitary products to be carried out aimed at recycling their component materials in an efficient and economically convenient way.
Currently known techniques for treatment of used absorbent sanitary products are not satisfactory. A first known technique envisages carrying out washing of the used absorbent products with water, alkalis, and soap and separating the cellulose from the plastic during the washing operation. Examples of this technique are disclosed in the documents Nos. WO 94/20668 and WO 96/27045.
The document No. U.S. Pat. No. 5,292,075 describes a process in which the dirty absorbent sanitary products are preliminarily shredded. The shredded material is then washed in a washing machine comprising a perforated cylindrical drum that withholds the plastic material inside it. The material containing the cellulose pulp is then dehydrated.
These techniques of treatment of absorbent sanitary products are in actual practice problematical to implement since the washing water would contain a high amount of pollutants, such as gelified superabsorbent polymers and organic residue, which renders problematical disposal thereof. Drying of the cellulose after washing moreover entails a high expenditure of energy.
A further difficulty derives from the fact that used absorbent sanitary products are normally thrown away folded and closed to form a pack, with the outer plastic layer of the products that forms an impermeable barrier. If the products are treated in the form in which they have been thrown away, the outer impermeable layer prevents an effective sterilization of the products. On the other hand, a preliminary treatment as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,292,075 entails the need to shred articles with a high content of organic excretions, bacteria, and contaminants.
The document No. JP 2004113915 describes a process for treating diapers that contain absorbent polymers, whereby the used diapers are set in a pressurized closed vessel together with sawdust. Inside the vessel the diapers are treated with steam at high temperature and high pressure for a pre-set time. Steam treatment is carried out at a pressure of 15-25 atm and at a temperature of 150-250° C. This document envisages use of the absorbent sanitary products, after said treatment, as fertilizers following upon fermentation.
The document No. WO 2010/065088 describes an autoclave for the treatment of urban solid waste that envisages drying of the waste using steam. The apparatus described in the document WO 2010/065088 comprises a rotary cylindrical autoclave provided with at least one hatch that can be opened to enable access to the autoclave and sealably closed to enable pressurization of the autoclave, an inlet for contact steam that comes into direct contact with the waste contained inside the autoclave, a plurality of straight hollow blades, which are designed to conduct non-contact steam, project from the inner surface of the autoclave, and are supplied with non-contact steam. This apparatus enables sterilization of urban solid waste and drying of the waste during treatment in the autoclave. The apparatus described in the document WO 2010/065088 has been developed for treatment of undifferentiated urban solid waste and does not contains specific teachings to obtain sterilization, drying, and separation of the component materials of absorbent sanitary products.